Rent-A-Center’s network of stores includes more than 400 locations across the United States operated by franchisees who seek to build relationships with rental customers who own property in their surrounding communities. The company recently equipped with SOCi localized marketing platform to help business owners with software tools to engage consumers in online to offline efforts.
As much as pandemic lockdowns led to an increase in e-commerce, many consumers still appreciate businesses with a physical location nearby. More than half (61%) of multi-location marketers surveyed by SOCi at the height of the health crisis said their physical locations played an important role in generating revenue, and 66% said they expected that to continue , underscoring the need for marketing, both analog. and digital, which targets local markets.
“Those with a localized marketing strategy could keep customers informed and better adapt to the changing landscape, and in turn foster customer loyalty,” Monica Ho. CMO at Partner, he said in response to emailed questions. “Since the pandemic, search engines are higher attributes related to convenience and availability.”
Empowered customers
While direct mail offers a way for local businesses to build awareness by opening a zip code with mailers, a digital presence is essential when consumers start searching for a local business on the Internet or social media apps, especially when they are called the youngest consumers to use Instagram or TikTok to search.
To multi-location companies like Rent-A-Center and its franchisees, localized marketing helps increase the effect of brand campaigns. Partners research found that 80% of multi-location Sellers acknowledge that location information from third-party sites significantly affects their brand reputation.
“Increasingly, these channels are prioritizing localized results, as this is the type of content that drives consumer engagement and conversion-rich actions such as click-to-call, directions, etc.,” said Ho. “Furthermore, localized commercial information displayed on these top sites has been shown to affect consumer brand perception.”
Rent-A-Center’s focus on localized marketing could also provide a competitive advantage, as a significant portion of retailers neglect to have even a minimal online presence. Only 89% of retailers claim their online profiles, compared to an average of 99% of all businesses on Google, Yelp and Facebook, according to SOCi research.
“Consumers have more ability than ever to find information about businesses quickly, conveniently, and anytime, anywhere,” Ho said. “Companies that have a physical footprint must ensure that their information is not only kept up-to-date and accurate across all of their specific local locations, but that this information is easily discoverable in any channel that the consumer can use”.
Reputation management
Review sites and social media give consumers a way to air their complaints about a local business. Managers who neglect to monitor these platforms are missing an opportunity to showcase their efforts to resolve these grievances and keep customers happy. SOCi’s tools offer Rent-A-Center franchisees a way to optimize social media advertising and protect their brands with review management.
As consumers search for information about nearby stores, search engine optimization (SEO) plays a key role in getting discovered. According to SOCi, the most popular attribute for retailers is in-store shopping, ahead of curbside pickup and delivery services that provided a lifeline to many local businesses during the lockdowns.
“Retailers with these services should highlight and enable them on their profiles to get prominent placement in Google results,” Ho said.
Key steps for localized marketing
When working with multi-location marketers, such as Rent-A-Center franchisees, SOCi recommends a number of steps to improve your chances of being discovered in local search results, including social media. It’s free to set up a listing or profile page on Facebook, Google, or Yelp.
“From there, retailers should pay attention to the growing influence that local ratings and reviews have” on brand perception and search results, Ho said. “When a business has more reviews than the average business in the category, there is a greater potential for it to appear in the top two positions of search results.”
Optimizing an online profile requires continuous adjustments as search engines and social media companies adjust their algorithms for organic reach. Including images of a store also helps, as 44% of local results in Google search have a featured photo in the summary listing, according to SOCi research.
The importance of providing localized information to consumers, many of whom includes the phrase “…near me” in their search queries, it’s more evident as local advertising spending reaches $167.4 billion this year, according to a revised forecast from BIA Advisory Services. Of the $79 billion expected to be spent on local digital media, $32 billion will go to mobile advertising, the consultancy said in an estimate that includes the effects of a slowing economy.
“Due to the pandemic, improving localized marketing is as much a priority as national marketing efforts,” Ho said.
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